Archive | tips and tutorials

Do you ever struggle to see small things clearly while doing detailed work? Do you need to brighten up your workspace a bit? I have found a solution for you! Plus, I’ll show you a hack for shooting overhead video.

When the folks at Brightech asked if they could send me a lamp of my choice if I write about my experience, I just wasn’t sure. I’d never heard of them before. I assumed the lamps would be too spendy, and I wouldn’t want to recommend overpriced items that I wouldn’t buy myself. I went to their website and was pleasantly surprised with their reasonable prices. Then I wondered about quality, but quickly found awesome reviews on Amazon. And not just a few good reviews here and there, but thousands of excellent reviews.

My experience
The lamp arrived in just a few days, was packed very well, and was really simple and quick to assemble. I moved the head of the lamp towards me, noticing how smoothly the arm extends to whatever position I prefer, and it holds that position nicely. I twisted the knob to adjust the angle of the lamp head, and was impressed with the range of possible angles. The lamp has a high-quality feel, which is a welcome change from the cheap and plastic-y lamps I’ve bought from large craft retail stores in the past.

The first thing I put under the magnifier? My hands. And I quickly noticed how I could use a manicure! I turned on the light switch and clicked the arrows to decrease and increase the brightness. Very nice. The LED lights give a very crisp, bright, white light – which I love. While designing and sewing, I need to see fabric and thread in their true-to-life color, and this lamp is perfect for that.

I love that it’s on wheels, allowing me to use it where I want, whether it’s at a table or in my comfy living room chair. The base of lamp is heavy, too, which gives great support and weight balance.

What’s also cool is that I can choose to use just the magnifier, the magnifier plus the lamp light, or the lamp light only. I like having options. So far I’ve used it as an overhead light at my sewing machine, lighting & magnifying the tiny invisible stitches I like to make while hand-sewing quilt binding, and magnifying needle-threading, a manicure, and removing a sliver from my finger (those dang rosebushes).

And… I’ve used it for shooting overhead video. Yes, video! Here’s the hack: use the lamp head as a base for your smartphone! Open up the lens cover, place a folded paper towel on the lens to protect it, then place your phone with the camera side down so that it extends off the side to give a shot of whatever you want to capture. That’s what I did for every clip of this fun video I made with my iPhone 7 Plus.

Who it’s for
This lamp is for people who need to illuminate what they’re working on and to see things close-up. It’s for people who make, build, inspect, or fix things. It’s great for people who don’t enjoy hobbies like they used to, since they can’t see as well as they used to. One of the reasons I don’t cross-stitch much anymore is because it involves a lot of tiny things that are hard for me to see: threading the needle, looking at the design chart, and seeing all those tiny holes in the Aida cloth. With this magnifying lamp, I’m looking forward to cross-stitching again. Time to find a nice pattern to nestle in with for some cozy winter sewing!

Pricing and purchase
The current price of the LightView XL Rolling Base Magnifying Glass Lamp is $94.99 at brightechshop.com, and shipping to the U.S. is free since it’s over $50.

Pros and Cons
The pros? The best thing about the lamp is the adjustable arm and lamp head, making it so handy for many different scenarios with just a tiny bit of effort. But I also really love the beautiful bright white light, magnifying capability, sturdy wheeled-base, and that it helps me record video. The cons? Maybe that the lamp is a bit awkward to wheel around. I hold onto the pole base to move it, requiring me to hunch over a little and walk with scooting steps alongside the lamp. But really, it’s not enough of a pain for me to not want to have this lamp.

Alternative options
Of course there are other lamps in the market that can illuminate and magnify. But most of them take up too much space on the work surface, can’t be moved around, don’t have the same adjustments for brightness or lamp direction, don’t have as large or powerful magnifying lens, or don’t have a flat lamp head that I can place my phone on.

My final opinion
The lamp’s quality, mobility, and multi-purpose use make it worth buying, in my opinion. And honestly, the price is fair.

If you’d like to get one for yourself or as a gift (I may give one to my Mom for her crocheting and reading at her recliner!), find it here: Brightech LightView XL Rolling Base Magnifying Glass Lamp. Note: when you buy something using the links in this review post, I’ll earn a small affiliate commission. But please know, affiliate sales is NOT what I’m all about – quilt-making is. And this tool is great for helping me make and share my love of sewing.

I love how this fabric swatch magnet board is both a helpful tool and a piece of art on its own. It looks so good in my sewing room!

Fabric swatches are so helpful when choosing fabrics for your sewing projects. Just like paint chips help you select paint colors, fabric swatch cards help you select just the right color for whatever you’re sewing.

Many fabric manufacturers sell color cards that have swatches of all the fabrics in a collection – such a great resource when making color palettes for your projects. But the problem is that the swatches are often affixed in a set layout, not allowing you to mix and match individual fabrics to your liking. If you’re like me, you want to look at fabric colors independently and arrange them to create unique color combinations.

The answer? Cut them up, just like paint chips! I’ll show you how to cut out fabric swatch card sections, stick magnetic sheets on the back, cut out the individual swatch magnets, and slap them up on a dry erase board. Whiteboards are magnetic! Who knew?!

In this tutorial, I’m sharing two methods: using a fabric swatch card that IS cut-out-friendly, and using one that’s not. Kona Cotton color cards (by Robert Kaufman) are cut-out-friendly, since the fabric swatches and text are all separated and glued in place so that you can easily cut them apart to make individual fabric swatch cards. Most all of the other manufacturer swatch cards are NOT cut-out-friendly, meaning the fabric swatches overlap each other and the text doesn’t line up. No matter which type you have, you can hack your color card – I’ll show you how.

Magnetic dry erase board. I used a 35″ x 23″ whiteboard and this smaller 23″ x 17″ whiteboard would work well for fewer swatches. Make sure it is magnetic – some are, and some aren’t. Also, make sure it’s big enough to fit all your fabric swatches.

Installation supplies. Use an artist easel as a nice display support, or use hanging hardware & tools to put the dry erase board up on the wall.

IF USING A SWATCH CARD THAT ISNOTCUT-OUT-FRIENDLY (OR IF USING YOUR OWN LOOSE FABRIC SWATCHES)

Same items as above, plus the items below. Make sure the fabric swatches are at least 1” or 2” square (your choice). I prefer to use 1” for fabrics that read as solid colors and 2” for prints.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR A FABRIC SWATCH CARD THAT IS CUT-OUT-FRIENDLY (LIKE KONA COTTON)

1. Cut out large sections of cards. Cut out the name of the fabric collection, too.

2. Cut out matching-sized adhesive magnetic sheets. To do this: with a pencil, trace the edges of the large card sections onto the paper side of the magnet. Then cut them out. Or, if you cut them a tiny bit smaller, they’ll be easier to align in the next step.

3. Peel away the adhesive paper from the magnets and press the card sections onto the exposed sticky surface. Align them as best as you can.

4. Cut out the individual swatch cards. Just cut on the lines. You now have a bunch of little fabric magnets!

6. Apply a magnet strip to back of a color wheel and place it on the whiteboard. Use it as a guide to create color palettes! I pressed the adhesive magnet to the back except for the middle portion, so the wheel can still spin around.

7. Install your fabric swatch organizer (formerly just a plain ol’ whiteboard). Put it on the wall, on an artist easel, or just keep it mobile to move around as you want. Enjoy! This whiteboard measures 35″ x 23” and is holding 303 1” fabric swatches, with lots of extra room for creating palettes.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR A FABRIC SWATCH CARD THAT IS NOT CUT-OUT-FRIENDLY (OR IF USING YOUR OWN LOOSE FABRIC SWATCHES)

2. Cut out 1” squares of each of the fabrics. Or 2” squares if you’re using that size of template. A quilting ruler and rotary cutter make it easy. Make sure to keep the fabric squares in order, so you can label them correctly later on.

3. Apply Elmer’s washable school glue along the top 1” of the card rows. Smooth the glue with the foam brush. If using 2” squares, glue along the top 2”. Or, only apply a glue line to just the very top area if you want to keep the swatch loose to be able to feel the fabric between your fingers.

4. Press the fabric squares onto the glued area. After pressing with my fingers, I use a spare sheet of card stock to temporarily place on top and smooth out the entire sheet with my hands – like a pressing cloth.

5. Hand write a fabric details caption under the swatch. Use a fine-point black marker and very small print. TIP: You don’t have to do this step if you get the pre-populated PDF, linked above.

6. Repeat for each of the fabric swatches. To keep everything in order, I do one row at a time.

7. Cut away and discard the empty outer margins. If using a manufacturer’s swatch card, cut out and keep the name of the fabric collection.

8. Cut out matching-sized adhesive magnetic sheets. I’ve sized the swatch card template PDF to be close to 8×10” (a common size for magnetic sheets), so trimming will be minimal or not needed at all. With a pencil, trace the edges of the large card sections onto the paper side of the magnet. Then cut them out. Or, if you cut them a tiny bit smaller, they’ll be easier to align in the next step.

9. Peel away the adhesive paper from the magnets and press the card sections onto the exposed sticky surface. Align them as best as you can.

10. Cut out the individual swatch cards. Just cut on the lines. You now have a bunch of little fabric magnets!

12. Apply a magnet strip to back of a color wheel and place it on the whiteboard. Use it as a guide to create color palettes! I pressed the adhesive magnet to the back except for the middle portion, so the wheel can still spin around.

13. Install your fabric swatch organizer (formerly just a plain ol’ whiteboard). Put it on the wall, on an artist easel, or just keep it mobile to move around as you want. Enjoy! This whiteboard measures 20″ x 16” and is holding 50 1” fabric swatches, with lots of extra room for creating palettes.

TIPS

Make one of these for each color card and have fun making color palettes!

Consider making a single large 2” swatch card for each fabric collection, and only glue the top of the fabric square in place (about 1/4”) so you can feel the fabric and compare to other brands.

The 2” swatches work well for prints. I like making these for basic fabrics that won’t go out-of-print (OOP) anytime soon. These larger swatches show more of the fabric motif and help me visualize combos with other lines of fabric.

I’m going to show you how to sew half-square triangles (HST), 8 at a time. This is great when you want a large number of identical HSTs.
Watch the video and follow along with the photo tutorial below.

The basic process is to start with 2 same-size squares, mark lines on one of the squares, layer, sew, cut, press, and trim.
In this tutorial, I’m starting with 10-inch squares, a standard size in the quilting industry. Another very common size is 5-inch squares. Stacks of these pre-cut squares are widely-available, found in most any quilt shop, so it’s no surprise that these are my two favorite sizes to work with.

2. Mark 4 centered lines on the wrong side of one of the squares: one vertical, one horizontal, and two diagonal. I like to use a regular pencil, but any fabric marker would work. You could even use creases instead, using an iron or a creasing tool.

3. Layer the 2 squares right sides together. You could pin them together, but I usually don’t. They always seem to stick together just fine.

4. Sew 4 seams, 1/4-inch from each side of the diagonal lines. Repeat, the diagonal lines only.

5. Cut on the marked lines. Use scissors or a rotary cutter, whichever you prefer.

6. Press the seams. I like to press the seams open. But if you like to press seams to one side, cool. Do what works best for you. I almost always press open so the quilt block lies nice and flat. Also, at this point I may not know the final arrangement of all these HSTs in the project I’m making. Depending on the HST layout, if I press seams to one side, some might double-up on each other making it bulky and bumpy. Not good. I don’t like my design decisions to be dictated by seam direction. Pressed-open seams give me design flexibility, which is good!

7. Trim the HSTs.
Why trim? Because it helps to ensure accuracy, which is important when trying to match all of those HST points when you sew them all together. Trimming is a last step that helps to attain precision despite any flaws made in the process, like imperfectly cut squares or a seam that is not an immaculate 1/4 inch. Also, you’ve just sewn on the bias, which is where fabric stretches most. So let’s correct any stretching or flaws with a simple trim, to align our seams the best we can!
You’ll need a cutting mat, a rotary cutter, and a gridded transparent ruler with a 45-degree line.
First, determine the desired cut size. In this example, we’re trimming the HST down to 4 inches square.
Line up the ruler’s 45-degree line with the diagonal seam, then make sure the desired cut size is within the appropriate lines on the ruler.

Here, I’m picturing the 4-inch square lines on the ruler, and I can see that I have excess fabric on all four sides.

Using the rotary cutter, trim off the right and top sides of the HST.

Lift the ruler and rotate the HST so the un-cut corner is now at the top-right. Just like we did before, line up the ruler’s 45-degree line with the diagonal seam, but this time make sure the freshly-cut corner (now at the bottom-left) is aligned nicely with the appropriate lines on the ruler. This quilting ruler makes it easy.

Again using the rotary cutter, trim off the right and top sides of the HST.

All trimmed and precise. Do this for each HST. See how the diagonal seam goes corner to corner? That’s important later on, for when you want to sew a bunch together and get the seams to match!

I’m going to show you how to sew half-square triangles (HST), 2 at a time. This is great when you want a variety of HSTs with different fabrics.
Watch the video and follow along with the photo tutorial below.

The basic process is to start with 2 same-size squares, mark lines on one of the squares, layer, sew, cut, press, and trim.
In this tutorial, I’m starting with 5-inch squares, a standard size in the quilting industry. Another very common size is 10-inch squares. Stacks of these pre-cut squares are widely-available, found in most any quilt shop, so it’s no surprise that these are my two favorite sizes to work with.

2.5″ squares make (2) 2″ trimmed HSTs

5” squares make (2) 4” trimmed HSTs

10” squares make (2) 8” trimmed HSTs

1. Start with 2 same-size fabric squares. Quilting cotton is best.

2. Mark 1 diagonal line on the wrong side of one of the squares. I like to use a regular pencil, but any fabric marker would work. You could even use a crease instead, using an iron or a creasing tool.

3. Layer the 2 squares right sides together. You could pin them together, but I usually don’t. They always seem to stick together just fine.

4. Sew 2 seams, 1/4-inch from each side of the diagonal line.

5. Cut on the marked line. Use scissors or a rotary cutter, whichever you prefer.

6. Press the seams. I like to press the seams open. But if you like to press seams to one side, cool. Do what works best for you. I almost always press open so the quilt block lies nice and flat. Also, at this point I may not know the final arrangement of the HSTs in the project I’m making. Depending on the HST layout, if I press seams to one side, some might double-up on each other making it bulky and bumpy. Not good. I don’t like my design decisions to be dictated by seam direction. Pressed-open seams give me design flexibility, which is good!

7. Trim the HSTs.
Why trim? Because it helps to ensure accuracy, which is important when trying to match all of those HST points when you sew them all together. Trimming is a last step that helps to attain precision despite any flaws made in the process, like imperfectly cut squares or a seam that is not an immaculate 1/4 inch. Also, you’ve just sewn on the bias, which is where fabric stretches most. So let’s correct any stretching or flaws with a simple trim, to align our seams the best we can!
You’ll need a cutting mat, a rotary cutter, and a gridded transparent ruler with a 45-degree line.
First, determine the desired cut size. In this example, we’re trimming the HST down to 4 inches square.
Line up the ruler’s 45-degree line with the diagonal seam, then make sure the desired cut size is within the appropriate lines on the ruler.

Here, I’m picturing the 4-inch square lines on the ruler, and I can see that I have excess fabric on all four sides.

Using the rotary cutter, trim off the right and top sides of the HST.

Lift the ruler and rotate the HST so the un-cut corner is now at the top-right. Just like we did before, line up the ruler’s 45-degree line with the diagonal seam, but this time make sure the freshly-cut corner (now at the bottom-left) is aligned nicely with the appropriate lines on the ruler. This quilting ruler makes it easy.

Again using the rotary cutter, trim off the right and top sides of the HST.

All trimmed and precise. Do this for each HST. See how the diagonal seam goes corner to corner? That’s important later on, for when you want to sew a bunch together and get the seams to match!